Media

At the UN Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, a number of US senators, mayors and governors staged a defiant anti-Trump revolt. The lawmakers were part of a coalition of cities, universities, faith groups and companies who attended the UN climate summit to reject Trump's vow to pull the US out of the Paris deal and instead proclaim "We Are Still In." We spoke with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman.

We are just back from our weeklong broadcast from the UN Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, where a number of US senators, mayors, governors staged a defiant anti-Trump revolt, declaring, "We're still in." That's the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal. In Bonn, I spoke with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: …here because we need to send a message to the world -- forget what Donald Trump says. That we're serious about climate change. I'm the governor of Virginia, and when Trump moved out of the Paris climate agreement, I was the first governor to come out and say, "We're going to do it ourselves." So through an executive directive, I'm doing what should have been done at the national level on the Paris agreement. I'm embarrassed about what Donald Trump did. So I'm here to spread the message.Trump isolated himself. He did not isolate the United States of America.

AMY GOODMAN: Specifically, what was that executive directive that you issued in Virginia?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: So we are moving ahead in Virginia as if the Paris climate agreement is still in effect. We're going to meet the same standards. We're joining the RGGI states. And we're doing -- as I say, I did it through an executive directive, by the power of the governor to do it. I would not have been successful trying to get it through my legislature. We did have a huge win in Virginia on Tuesday and picked up at least 15 seats, so our legislature -- maybe now we can get it done, but we couldn't before. And my directive says, "We're going to meet the Paris agreement. It is the right thing to do."

AMY GOODMAN: So talk about that win. What Ralph Northam means for Virginia. There was a lot of speculation that Ed Gillespie was going to pull it out, but he didn't.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: I never thought Ed was going to pull it out. I was very public on national television. I said, "We're going to win all three statewides." What was astounding what happened the other day is we picked up 15 House of Delegates seats. That is the most in 100 years. Eleven of them were women. A majority of women came out and ran.This was a clear message. One, an affirmation we've had four great years. We have led on the issues of climate change in Virginia. We've done it through executive authority.

When I took office, we had 17 megawatts of solar. Today, we're almost at 3,000, literally in three years. We're the first state to do an offshore utility wind project.I just announced it off Virginia Beach, with DONG Energy out of Denmark, and Dominion Power.

So we've led on these different issues. And so for me, while I've had to do it through executive authority, because my legislature would never go for it -- only 34 Democrats out of 100 -- now with the pickups means we can now make these law and codify it, which is -- this is a huge win for the climate issue.

AMY GOODMAN: So solar power -- China is really excelling in this. President Trump was just in China. He talks about being the president of jobs and the economy. It is amazing for so many that he is ceding this whole renewable technology field, the really growing field, to China.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: It's sad. Because as I say, we've gone from 17 megawatts to almost 3,000. But the next phase is we have got to have the manufacturing of the solar facilities in America. I'd like a lot of those in Virginia. And Trump to go over there -- listen, China makes most of the solar panels. We should be doing this in America. If you want to bring manufacturing back to America -- the renewable energy. I've created 77,000 energy efficiency jobs just in the last couple of years. This is the future.

Trump has no credibility after he pulled out of Paris. I always say he is tweeting all day. He's like the crazy uncle up in the attic. You just don't know what he's going to do in a given day. He talks about jobs, but he is not delivering jobs. Not only on climate -- look what he has done on the travel ban. Look what he has done on immigration. Look what he has done on healthcare.

He has done nothing but hurt. I can say this as governor of Virginians. My premiums are going up 53 percent in health care. He has terrorized my immigrant community. I've had to go to Dulles Airport on the travel ban and say, "No, you're not going to hold US citizens, Virginians, in a holding pen for five hours without access to legal counsel." So that is why I'm so honored to be here today, to have so many people who are engaged in the climate movement.

AMY GOODMAN: You have some really interesting victories in Virginia. You had the first trans state legislator, a former journalist, who has been elected.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: Well, what is so beautiful about this, to be honest with you -- Bob Marshall was the most conservative, homophobic member of our House of Delegates. I vetoed all of his bills. He had HB2 bills, transgender bills. He sponsored all of them. Defunding Planned Parenthood. Bob Marshall sponsored all of them. And was defeated by a transgender. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that.

AMY GOODMAN: And he called himself, what? A proud homophobe.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: Yeah, he said that. That was his phrase that he had. And he is now gone. And I give Danica Roem credit. On election night, they asked her about him, and she said, "He is now a constituent of mine." Which I thought was a classy thing to say.

We have had interesting elections in Virginia. But I think the message -- honestly, the message came out. We needed a win for the Democrats. So people were happy of the four years we have had. Record job investment, $19 billion of new capital coming in, which is $6 billion more than an governor ever. I've restored more rights than any governor in the history of the United States of America. I've kept all the women's health clinics open. I'm the most progressive governor in the history of the state.

I've leaned in on the issues. I've told the NRA to go jump off a cliff. A good four years, and then the anti-Trump and my lieutenant governor was at my side the whole time. We are a new Virginia. We got the Democratic Party off the mat in this country, and now we need to take it to the next level. We've got to win the Congress back. And we have 36 governors coming up in 2018. We've got to win a majority of those.

AMY GOODMAN: So Lee Carter, a Democratic Socialist from Manassas, won for the House of Delegates, the state legislature in Virginia. He was a Marine. He is a socialist. And he beat the incumbent who was the majority whip?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: Yeah, he beat a member of the Republican leadership, which is very, very important. Jackson Miller. And he did it by laying out a positive agenda -- create new jobs, build a new Virginia economy. Which is what I talk every single day. So we had Lee Carter win. We had Danica Roem win. We picked up at least 15. We're going into a recount. We've got three more seats. I would like to get control of the House of delegates. And then we can continue on.

I have had to do everything, unfortunately, through executive authority. As I say, with 34 out of 100 Democrats, Republicans control. But it is a new day in Virginia. We're the spark plug that is going to bring the Democrats back, win the House of Representatives next year, pick up a majority of these Democratic governors. I mean, big states -- Michigan, Ohio. Pennsylvania -- we've got to keep our governor there. We've got to pick up in Florida. These are important states.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, I wanted to ask about Donna Brazile's comments. The former interim chair of the DNC. She -- Elizabeth Warren said, "Yeah, the election was rigged." And they were talking about this deal made between the DNC and the Clinton campaign. That the Clinton campaign would raise the money and then would have the say about how the DNC would spend it, when at the time, Hillary Clinton wasn't even the candidate yet. And she was of course going against Bernie Sanders. A lot of his supporters were saying it was rigged at the time.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: From what I'm told, and I wasn't part of the agreement so I don't know, was the agreement is for for the general election. And the same deal I believe was offered to Senator Sanders. That's all I know. But here's my point. No offense to Donna, I could care less. I am sitting on election victory Tuesday and I didn't want any disruptions. Donna's book is not going to create one job in Virginia. It's not going to get one person healthcare. It's not going to help me build one single road. Democrats have got to stay unified. I'm not into negative energy. I'm just not.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, it wasn't about her book, but it's about just that point…

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: No, no, no. The book came out at an unfortunate time. But as I say, I campaigned all weekend. I did 17 events on the weekend. Nobody asked me about the book. Now…

AMY GOODMAN: The issue.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: …should reforms be to the process and all that? I'm all for that. You want a fair process. But I can't look back. I've got to look forward. We had an earthquake in Virginia on Tuesday to get the Democrats back and unified. As I say, I have been the most progressive governor in the history of the state. I've taken on the NRA. I've taken on the Koch brothers. We keep beating them.

We've got to have Democrats unified in this country. We've got to win the Congress. We've got to win the governors' mansions across the country. Because here's the issue. We have 36 up -- in 2020, they do the census. In 2021, they redraw every line in America. Right now two thirds of the chambers are controlled by Republican legislators. They are going to draw lines to give them more power.

And nothing happens in Congress. Nothing. I'm the biggest critic of Congress because they don't do anything. So what's happening is at the state level. The rollback of women's rights, gay rights, environmental rights, voting rights, pro-gun rights -- it's all happening through the state legislatures. And Democrats have to wake up and quit talking about the presidential election and better start talking about state and local, or we are going to get crushed from 2021 to 2031.

AMY GOODMAN: That is what the Koch brothers say. They focus at the state and the local level.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: You bet they do.

AMY GOODMAN: What about, not only the Koch brothers -- what Senator Merkley calls the Koch cartel -- but also the Mercer money that really backed Trump and ultimately led to his victory?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: This is my point. I'm not going to sit here and criticize all of them. They went out, and you know what? They're sitting in the White House. We've got to get smarter as Democrats. We've got to fight. I'm not into these circular firing squads. I'm tired of the whining. It is time to fight.

I as governor, from the day I took office, have been fighting on progressive issues and I've beaten them, but I have had to do it as an executive. My legislature would not be with me on any of these issues. We need Democrats who are fighting on the values that they believe in. Too many Democrats today put their finger up in the air and say, "Which way are the polls going?" I don't do that.

When I ran for governor, I had a historic win. A 40-year trend I broke. I was I believe the first person in the south, statewide, to come out for marriage equality. I told women I would be a brick wall to protect their rights, and I told the NRA to go jump off a cliff. They give me an "F" rating. No one in Virginia governor had ever run like that. I was proud of that, and you know what? I won. I ran on the things I believed in. But you know, if I did not win the next day, so be it. My life wouldn't change.

Democrats have to fight on their values. And we're not always going to agree on every issue. I am not into litmus tests. I'm sorry. Fight for what you believe in. Go swinging. If you don't win, so be it.

AMY GOODMAN: Last question, about gun control. What about this issue? You say you have taken on the NRA. What do you think the country has to learn? Massacre after massacre, what does the country have to do?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: What they have to learn is we have to elect Democratic members of Congress. After Newtown, Connecticut, if we couldn't get anything done on gun legislation -- in Virginia, every year I put up background checks. Every single year. And I was defeated in committee early in the morning with no recorded vote. That's how it happens in Virginia. But the Congress is the same way. We have to get more thoughtful people in Congress.

And I am for common sense gun restrictions. I'm not advocating anything over-the-top. I've said this -- I am a gun owner. I hunt. I take my boys hunting. But I went through background checks as governor. It takes five minutes. Everybody should go through that. And nobody who is entitled to own a firearm will be denied. But there are people who should not have them.

And I'm just disgusted at the power of the NRA. They're based in Virginia. I fight them every day. I beat them. In fact last year in Virginia, we passed legislation -- the strongest protective order in the United States of America. In Virginia, if you have a domestic protective order against you, you have 24 hours to hand your gun in, if there is one in the household. And if you don't, it is a class six felony. You're going to prison and your gun is gone for life. Virginia, the strongest protective order in the United States of America. I am proud of that as governor, because the NRA is based in our state.

AMY GOODMAN: That's Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. I was speaking with him in Bonn, Germany, at the UN Climate Summit. To see our full week's coverage, the only national broadcast from the United States that devoted every single show to the UN Bonn Summit, to the issue of climate change and global warming, you can go to "Democracynow.org." That does it for the show.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on more than 1,100 public television and radio stations worldwide. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its "Pick of the Podcasts," along with NBC's "Meet the Press."

Media

At the UN Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, a number of US senators, mayors and governors staged a defiant anti-Trump revolt. The lawmakers were part of a coalition of cities, universities, faith groups and companies who attended the UN climate summit to reject Trump's vow to pull the US out of the Paris deal and instead proclaim "We Are Still In." We spoke with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman.

We are just back from our weeklong broadcast from the UN Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, where a number of US senators, mayors, governors staged a defiant anti-Trump revolt, declaring, "We're still in." That's the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal. In Bonn, I spoke with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: …here because we need to send a message to the world -- forget what Donald Trump says. That we're serious about climate change. I'm the governor of Virginia, and when Trump moved out of the Paris climate agreement, I was the first governor to come out and say, "We're going to do it ourselves." So through an executive directive, I'm doing what should have been done at the national level on the Paris agreement. I'm embarrassed about what Donald Trump did. So I'm here to spread the message.Trump isolated himself. He did not isolate the United States of America.

AMY GOODMAN: Specifically, what was that executive directive that you issued in Virginia?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: So we are moving ahead in Virginia as if the Paris climate agreement is still in effect. We're going to meet the same standards. We're joining the RGGI states. And we're doing -- as I say, I did it through an executive directive, by the power of the governor to do it. I would not have been successful trying to get it through my legislature. We did have a huge win in Virginia on Tuesday and picked up at least 15 seats, so our legislature -- maybe now we can get it done, but we couldn't before. And my directive says, "We're going to meet the Paris agreement. It is the right thing to do."

AMY GOODMAN: So talk about that win. What Ralph Northam means for Virginia. There was a lot of speculation that Ed Gillespie was going to pull it out, but he didn't.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: I never thought Ed was going to pull it out. I was very public on national television. I said, "We're going to win all three statewides." What was astounding what happened the other day is we picked up 15 House of Delegates seats. That is the most in 100 years. Eleven of them were women. A majority of women came out and ran.This was a clear message. One, an affirmation we've had four great years. We have led on the issues of climate change in Virginia. We've done it through executive authority.

When I took office, we had 17 megawatts of solar. Today, we're almost at 3,000, literally in three years. We're the first state to do an offshore utility wind project.I just announced it off Virginia Beach, with DONG Energy out of Denmark, and Dominion Power.

So we've led on these different issues. And so for me, while I've had to do it through executive authority, because my legislature would never go for it -- only 34 Democrats out of 100 -- now with the pickups means we can now make these law and codify it, which is -- this is a huge win for the climate issue.

AMY GOODMAN: So solar power -- China is really excelling in this. President Trump was just in China. He talks about being the president of jobs and the economy. It is amazing for so many that he is ceding this whole renewable technology field, the really growing field, to China.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: It's sad. Because as I say, we've gone from 17 megawatts to almost 3,000. But the next phase is we have got to have the manufacturing of the solar facilities in America. I'd like a lot of those in Virginia. And Trump to go over there -- listen, China makes most of the solar panels. We should be doing this in America. If you want to bring manufacturing back to America -- the renewable energy. I've created 77,000 energy efficiency jobs just in the last couple of years. This is the future.

Trump has no credibility after he pulled out of Paris. I always say he is tweeting all day. He's like the crazy uncle up in the attic. You just don't know what he's going to do in a given day. He talks about jobs, but he is not delivering jobs. Not only on climate -- look what he has done on the travel ban. Look what he has done on immigration. Look what he has done on healthcare.

He has done nothing but hurt. I can say this as governor of Virginians. My premiums are going up 53 percent in health care. He has terrorized my immigrant community. I've had to go to Dulles Airport on the travel ban and say, "No, you're not going to hold US citizens, Virginians, in a holding pen for five hours without access to legal counsel." So that is why I'm so honored to be here today, to have so many people who are engaged in the climate movement.

AMY GOODMAN: You have some really interesting victories in Virginia. You had the first trans state legislator, a former journalist, who has been elected.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: Well, what is so beautiful about this, to be honest with you -- Bob Marshall was the most conservative, homophobic member of our House of Delegates. I vetoed all of his bills. He had HB2 bills, transgender bills. He sponsored all of them. Defunding Planned Parenthood. Bob Marshall sponsored all of them. And was defeated by a transgender. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that.

AMY GOODMAN: And he called himself, what? A proud homophobe.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: Yeah, he said that. That was his phrase that he had. And he is now gone. And I give Danica Roem credit. On election night, they asked her about him, and she said, "He is now a constituent of mine." Which I thought was a classy thing to say.

We have had interesting elections in Virginia. But I think the message -- honestly, the message came out. We needed a win for the Democrats. So people were happy of the four years we have had. Record job investment, $19 billion of new capital coming in, which is $6 billion more than an governor ever. I've restored more rights than any governor in the history of the United States of America. I've kept all the women's health clinics open. I'm the most progressive governor in the history of the state.

I've leaned in on the issues. I've told the NRA to go jump off a cliff. A good four years, and then the anti-Trump and my lieutenant governor was at my side the whole time. We are a new Virginia. We got the Democratic Party off the mat in this country, and now we need to take it to the next level. We've got to win the Congress back. And we have 36 governors coming up in 2018. We've got to win a majority of those.

AMY GOODMAN: So Lee Carter, a Democratic Socialist from Manassas, won for the House of Delegates, the state legislature in Virginia. He was a Marine. He is a socialist. And he beat the incumbent who was the majority whip?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: Yeah, he beat a member of the Republican leadership, which is very, very important. Jackson Miller. And he did it by laying out a positive agenda -- create new jobs, build a new Virginia economy. Which is what I talk every single day. So we had Lee Carter win. We had Danica Roem win. We picked up at least 15. We're going into a recount. We've got three more seats. I would like to get control of the House of delegates. And then we can continue on.

I have had to do everything, unfortunately, through executive authority. As I say, with 34 out of 100 Democrats, Republicans control. But it is a new day in Virginia. We're the spark plug that is going to bring the Democrats back, win the House of Representatives next year, pick up a majority of these Democratic governors. I mean, big states -- Michigan, Ohio. Pennsylvania -- we've got to keep our governor there. We've got to pick up in Florida. These are important states.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, I wanted to ask about Donna Brazile's comments. The former interim chair of the DNC. She -- Elizabeth Warren said, "Yeah, the election was rigged." And they were talking about this deal made between the DNC and the Clinton campaign. That the Clinton campaign would raise the money and then would have the say about how the DNC would spend it, when at the time, Hillary Clinton wasn't even the candidate yet. And she was of course going against Bernie Sanders. A lot of his supporters were saying it was rigged at the time.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: From what I'm told, and I wasn't part of the agreement so I don't know, was the agreement is for for the general election. And the same deal I believe was offered to Senator Sanders. That's all I know. But here's my point. No offense to Donna, I could care less. I am sitting on election victory Tuesday and I didn't want any disruptions. Donna's book is not going to create one job in Virginia. It's not going to get one person healthcare. It's not going to help me build one single road. Democrats have got to stay unified. I'm not into negative energy. I'm just not.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, it wasn't about her book, but it's about just that point…

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: No, no, no. The book came out at an unfortunate time. But as I say, I campaigned all weekend. I did 17 events on the weekend. Nobody asked me about the book. Now…

AMY GOODMAN: The issue.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: …should reforms be to the process and all that? I'm all for that. You want a fair process. But I can't look back. I've got to look forward. We had an earthquake in Virginia on Tuesday to get the Democrats back and unified. As I say, I have been the most progressive governor in the history of the state. I've taken on the NRA. I've taken on the Koch brothers. We keep beating them.

We've got to have Democrats unified in this country. We've got to win the Congress. We've got to win the governors' mansions across the country. Because here's the issue. We have 36 up -- in 2020, they do the census. In 2021, they redraw every line in America. Right now two thirds of the chambers are controlled by Republican legislators. They are going to draw lines to give them more power.

And nothing happens in Congress. Nothing. I'm the biggest critic of Congress because they don't do anything. So what's happening is at the state level. The rollback of women's rights, gay rights, environmental rights, voting rights, pro-gun rights -- it's all happening through the state legislatures. And Democrats have to wake up and quit talking about the presidential election and better start talking about state and local, or we are going to get crushed from 2021 to 2031.

AMY GOODMAN: That is what the Koch brothers say. They focus at the state and the local level.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: You bet they do.

AMY GOODMAN: What about, not only the Koch brothers -- what Senator Merkley calls the Koch cartel -- but also the Mercer money that really backed Trump and ultimately led to his victory?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: This is my point. I'm not going to sit here and criticize all of them. They went out, and you know what? They're sitting in the White House. We've got to get smarter as Democrats. We've got to fight. I'm not into these circular firing squads. I'm tired of the whining. It is time to fight.

I as governor, from the day I took office, have been fighting on progressive issues and I've beaten them, but I have had to do it as an executive. My legislature would not be with me on any of these issues. We need Democrats who are fighting on the values that they believe in. Too many Democrats today put their finger up in the air and say, "Which way are the polls going?" I don't do that.

When I ran for governor, I had a historic win. A 40-year trend I broke. I was I believe the first person in the south, statewide, to come out for marriage equality. I told women I would be a brick wall to protect their rights, and I told the NRA to go jump off a cliff. They give me an "F" rating. No one in Virginia governor had ever run like that. I was proud of that, and you know what? I won. I ran on the things I believed in. But you know, if I did not win the next day, so be it. My life wouldn't change.

Democrats have to fight on their values. And we're not always going to agree on every issue. I am not into litmus tests. I'm sorry. Fight for what you believe in. Go swinging. If you don't win, so be it.

AMY GOODMAN: Last question, about gun control. What about this issue? You say you have taken on the NRA. What do you think the country has to learn? Massacre after massacre, what does the country have to do?

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE: What they have to learn is we have to elect Democratic members of Congress. After Newtown, Connecticut, if we couldn't get anything done on gun legislation -- in Virginia, every year I put up background checks. Every single year. And I was defeated in committee early in the morning with no recorded vote. That's how it happens in Virginia. But the Congress is the same way. We have to get more thoughtful people in Congress.

And I am for common sense gun restrictions. I'm not advocating anything over-the-top. I've said this -- I am a gun owner. I hunt. I take my boys hunting. But I went through background checks as governor. It takes five minutes. Everybody should go through that. And nobody who is entitled to own a firearm will be denied. But there are people who should not have them.

And I'm just disgusted at the power of the NRA. They're based in Virginia. I fight them every day. I beat them. In fact last year in Virginia, we passed legislation -- the strongest protective order in the United States of America. In Virginia, if you have a domestic protective order against you, you have 24 hours to hand your gun in, if there is one in the household. And if you don't, it is a class six felony. You're going to prison and your gun is gone for life. Virginia, the strongest protective order in the United States of America. I am proud of that as governor, because the NRA is based in our state.

AMY GOODMAN: That's Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. I was speaking with him in Bonn, Germany, at the UN Climate Summit. To see our full week's coverage, the only national broadcast from the United States that devoted every single show to the UN Bonn Summit, to the issue of climate change and global warming, you can go to "Democracynow.org." That does it for the show.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on more than 1,100 public television and radio stations worldwide. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its "Pick of the Podcasts," along with NBC's "Meet the Press."